Always Be There
by Suki-Itami
Summary: It doesn't matter what people think of you, if you love someone, love them until you die. Sato/Dai
1. A Warning Of A Reunion

Always Be There

_I still hear your voice, when you sleep next to me. _

_I still feel your touch in my dreams. _

_Forgive me my weakness, but I don't know why. _

_Without you it's hard to survive. _

_Cause every time we touch, I get this feeling. _

_And every time we kiss I swear I could fly. _

_Can't you feel my heart beat fast, I want this to last. _

_I need you by my side. _

_Cause every time we touch, I feel the static. _

_And every time we kiss, I reach for the sky. _

_Can't you hear my heart beat so. _

_I can't let you go. _

_I want you in my life. _

_Your arms are my castle, your heart is my sky. _

_They wipe away tears that I cry. _

_The good and the bad times, we've been through them all --_

A young boy of thirteen, maybe fourteen, woke up to the sound of his new alarm going off, playing "Every Time We Touch" by Cascada. He sat up in his bed, his red spiky hair was only a little messy from his tossing and turning last night. He was wearing a white t-shirt with blue boxers. His name? Daisuke Niwa, a recent transfer student from Japan he's in America for the rest of his school years.

Daisuke reached over and switched off his alarm while it was repeating the song. _Stupid British people, making this alarm __**waaaay**__ too loud! I wish I could turn it down a bit._ (No offense to any British people reading this.)

Daisuke didn't have anything against the British people, he just didn't like loud noises when he woke up in the morning. Plus, he's been in a bad mood for the past two months. Two months ago the Niwa family moved to America, causing Daisuke to be separated from his friends…and the person he had fallen in love with.

Daisuke jumped out of his bed and walked over to his closet to pick out an outfit for the day. He decided on a black tank top and dark blue jeans. As he got dressed, he thought about the person he had fallen for back in Japan. Once Daisuke pulled the tank top on he walked over to a picture of all of the people he had left behind.

All of his friends, plus his crush, were standing in front of Azumano Middle School still in their uniforms for this picture. From left to right, Risa Harada, Takeshi Saehara, Riku Harada, and Satoshi Hikari. Risa and Riku Harada were twin sisters that had become very close friends with Daisuke just before they all entered Middle School. Takeshi Saehara was the reporter for the school newspaper, was Daisuke's best friend, and was all around violent. Satoshi Hikari was a submissive and quiet guy who hung out with Daisuke on occasion, he had never really talked with Daisuke a lot, but they were somewhat friends so he had agreed to be in the picture.

So, which one of these lucky people had caught the cute Daisuke's eye? Well, most people, like you, would naturally assume that it was one of the Harada sisters…right? Wrong! In fact, Daisuke had once liked the Harada twins, he even thought he loved Riku at one time, but he didn't like either of the girls now. Daisuke had always considered Takeshi as a friend and nothing more, he was afraid to think of Takeshi as anything more. So whom does that leave? That's right, Satoshi Hikari, the submissive quiet guy was the lucky guy that caught Daisuke's eye.

Daisuke never did make it known that he was gay, he was afraid to, he was afraid that people would criticize him more than they already were. When he first fell for Satoshi he had never thought about telling Satoshi exactly how he felt, but now he wishes that he had.

"Dai, time for school!" Emiko, Daisuke's mother, shouted from downstairs.

"Coming." Daisuke shouted back. He picked up his backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and ran downstairs.

Emiko, who normally left her brown hair down, had her hair in a high ponytail today. She wore a dark red knee length dress with a white apron over it.

Emiko turned around at the sound of the approaching Daisuke. "What **are** you wearing?"

Daisuke sighed. "What the other kids wear, mom." It was true that they had been in America for two months but Emiko can't get used to the way the people Daisuke's age dress.

Daisuke dropped his backpack next to the couch and ran into the kitchen to grab a poptart then grabbed his backpack and put his shoes on. They might live in America but old habits are hard to break, like the putting-the-shoes-next-to-the-door thing. Daisuke ran out the door, eating his poptart while running, and toward the school. He lived two blocks away from the school but it was hard for him to wake up on time so he could get to the school on time.

Once Daisuke reached the parking lot of the High School he was fine. He was a freshman in High School here, taking all of the classes required for freshmen at this school. Oh yeah, Daisuke currently lives in Hewitt, Texas. He goes to Midway High School, a school about the size of a four-story building; if a four-story building was lying on its side and had an extra floor going to the side. Texas was a state that has only two seasons, Summer and Spring, never sees snow, and when it rains…it pours.

Daisuke walked up to the front doors, still eating his poptart, and was greeted by his friends. A girl Daisuke's age that had shoulder length light brown hair and blue eyes ran up to him. She's not a skank or anything, but today she was dressed like it, wearing a white, nearly see through, short-sleeved button up shirt over a light pink tank top, and a pink skirt that was most likely out of the schools dress code. She had pale skin that made her seem to stand out in the school full of tanned people, from the sun, the clothes didn't help that at all.

"Anna, are you feeling okay?" Daisuke asked seriously.

"I'm insulted, I thought that a change might be good." Anna huffed. She normally wore all black and occasionally borrowed Daisuke's clothes because he had so much black clothes.

Daisuke raised one eyebrow in confusion. "I thought you were disgusted by the color pink."

Anna gave Daisuke a puppy dog look, her being shorter definitely kinda helped that situation. "I can't believe you'd throw my own words back at me!"

A boy behind Anna chuckled at the little argument. He had perfectly tanned skin from being in Marching Band, perfectly cropped short black hair and light green eyes. He was wearing a black Nirvana t-shirt and black sweat pants. He had a pentagram necklace hanging around his neck.

Anna turned around and glared at the boy. "Can it, Matt!"

Matt, who had been sitting down on a stonewall, stood up. He towered above both Anna and Daisuke by quite a lot. "I don't mean to, it's just that it's so true. You **did** say that you hate the color pink."

Daisuke smiled a little as he finished the last of his poptart and Anna continued glaring at Matt. Daisuke absolutely adored Matt because of his looks, but he didn't feel the same as he did with Satoshi.

"Am I late?" A girl asked, running up to the small group. She had light red hair that was pulled back into a high ponytail and purple colored contacts that covered up her hazel eyes. She was wearing a baggy white Linkin Park shirt and capris.

"Nah, you're actually early today Sammy." Anna said.

Sammy smiled. "That's good." Actually Sammy was short for Samantha, but everyone called her Sammy by request.

"Sammy, did you happen to bring back my jacket that you borrowed the other day?" Daisuke asked. "I can't go into the school wearing just this tank top or I'll be 'violating the dress code'."

Sammy nodded and rummaged through her backpack, which was filled with who knows what, until she found Daisuke's jacket. A black Legend Of Zelda jacket that had chip and cookie crumbs all over it.

Daisuke took the jacket and saw all the crumbs on it and sighed. "Can't you keep anything we let you borrow from coming in contact with crumbs?"

Sammy laughed as she zipped her backpack back up. "Better than nothing, right…?"

"Yeah, I guess." Daisuke sighed as he put on the jacket.

It was way too hot to be wearing a jacket and pants but Daisuke had no other choice or he would have to wear the school issued sweat shirt. The school was too strict on the dress code but, unfortunately, everyone had to obey it or had to wear the school issued sweat pants and/or sweat shirt.

Daisuke did his best to brush off the crumbs, with some help from Anna, before walking into the school. A giant pack of students stood in the front hall, just in front of the front doors, moving every which way in an attempt to get to class on time. Daisuke and Matt said bye to Anna and Sammy as they headed to their first period class, Freshmen English.

An uneventful and boring class, mainly due to the fact that the teacher, Mrs. Thornton, kept Matt and Daisuke separated…but also because they were reading _Romeo and Juliet_. Mrs. Thornton, also known as "The Um Lady", was a strict teacher that nobody liked. She could say "Um" so many times in one class period that you could sit there and count them and end up with a number close to one hundred, so she was semi-funny. (No joke!)

Matt and Daisuke walked into the classroom and were surprisingly on time today. Mrs. Thornton just looked at the two boys like hell froze over and she wasn't told. She was an old lady with short curly/frizzy gray hair and dark blue eyes that people swore would turn to black when she got mad. She normally wore some really old lady outfit that would make her seem like something straight out of the eighties, but today she wore a long blue dress.

Now it was Matt and Daisuke's turned to look at her as if hell froze over and they weren't told. Mrs. Thornton ignored their looks and went back to typing furiously away on her computer. Daisuke sat down in his seat on the other side of the room from Mrs. Thornton's desk while Matt sat down in his seat right next to Mrs. Thornton's desk. The only good thing about sitting right next to her desk was that whoever was sitting there was hidden from her view, if she's sitting there, thanks to her computer. Therefore Matt always caught up with his sleep in this class.

The rest of the class started filing in soon after that, soon the classroom was full and the bell rang just after the last person ran into the room.

Mrs. Thornton stood up and walked over to the front of the room. "Okay, lets get started with _Romeo and Juliet_ where we left off." She said, pushing play on the tape.

The tape started playing right where it left off the day before. Matt was already asleep by this point, Daisuke knew it because he had his head down on his English book.

Daisuke chuckled to himself. _It's so cute that he does that, heh heh!_ Daisuke might have thought Matt was cute, but he immediately thought about Satoshi once he finished that thought and became sad. He missed Satoshi so much and wished that he would've told Satoshi how he felt before he left Japan, and Satoshi, behind forever.

Before everyone knew it, the bell rang for the five-minute transition between first and second period.

Daisuke walked over to Matt as he was waking up. "Hey, sleepy, lets go."

Matt stretched and grabbed his things as Daisuke walked out of the room.

Matt caught up with Daisuke and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "I'm so lucky I have you as my mother." He said sarcastically.

Daisuke put on a fake smile. "I want you to clean your room before dinner tonight." Daisuke joked.

Matt put Daisuke into a headlock. "Come on dude, I was only kidding."

Daisuke laughed. "I know, but that's what makes it all the more funny."

Matt let go of Daisuke so they could walk down the stairs to the first floor. They had gym next period together as well, this class they actually liked because it didn't involve sitting behind a desk for forty-five minutes doing something stupid.

Daisuke and Matt walked into the gym area and to the locker room. As usual, Matt and Daisuke were the last ones there, but they didn't care.

Daisuke looked around, taking in all of the eye candy, but even as he did this he couldn't stop thinking about Satoshi. Daisuke noticed something just then that he had been thinking about Satoshi now more than he usually did, and it seemed strange to him but he shook it off quickly.

Daisuke got over to his locker, pulled on his gym uniform, through his stuff inside of his locker, and ran out to the gym floor.

Daisuke was the last one, that's including Matt, out onto the floor. Luckily the teacher wasn't out yet so Daisuke couldn't get marked late. It was strange though, the teacher was always out before Daisuke, and Daisuke wasn't earlier than usual. Daisuke sat next to Matt on the floor so he asked Matt why the teacher wasn't out yet.

Matt shrugged. "People are saying that there's another transfer from Japan, like you, who recently came in."

Daisuke was surprised that there was another Japanese transfer student coming in half way through the semester. "This late in the semester??"

Matt shrugged again. "Like I said, people are saying that. Doesn't mean it's true."

Daisuke nodded to signal that he understood.

Just then the teacher walked out, a strong built man with dark brown/black hair and blue eyes. He was wearing the usual blue sweat suit. Mr. Garcia was his name, yes he's a Mexican.

"We have a new student joining us today, a transfer student from Japan." Mr. Garcia said. "Help him blend in a bit."

Then a boy walked into the gym, he had short silver hair, silver eyes, and wore small glasses. He had pale skin that was paler than Anna's skin, he wore the gym uniform though he seemed uncomfortable in it.

Daisuke quietly gasped as he laid eyes upon this boy, the essence of perfection in his mind. The strange thing was, this boy was the quiet and submissive boy that Daisuke had fallen for back in Japan.

"Hello, I'm Satoshi Hikari." Satoshi said almost in a whisper


	2. A Warning of a Hidden Love?

Daisuke stared in shock at the boy at the front of his gym class, Satoshi Hikari. Daisuke never thought that he'd see anyone from back in Japan ever again, but here was his crush…standing in front of him for the first time in, what seemed like, forever.

"Ok, Satoshi, you can sit behind Daisuke Niwa." Mr. Garcia said as he looked back at the class. "Daisuke, raise your hand!"

Daisuke stood up instead of just raising his hand, making it known that he was in an awkward position.

Satoshi looked up at the gym teacher. "I'm sorry, that's Daisuke…**Niwa**?" Satoshi asked in shock.

Mr. Garcia nodded. "Yep, not our best student but he does put his heart into everything he does."

"I know him." Satoshi said as he walked over to Daisuke.

Daisuke stood there as Satoshi approached slowly towards him. _Wh-What should I say? I can't believe…I can't believe he's here!_

Satoshi stopped in front of his dazed friend. "Hey Daisuke, long time no see."

Matt was taken off guard by Satoshi's comment. "Y-You two **know** each other?!"

Satoshi nodded and sat down behind where Daisuke was standing, Daisuke quickly followed behind Satoshi.

Matt leaned over and whispered to Daisuke, "Why didn't you tell me we had a new student coming today?"

"I…didn't know that he was even in the states." Daisuke whispered back.

"Today we will be starting our football unit." Mr. Garcia said happily. He was also the football coach for the Midway Panthers, so he took a lot of pride in playing football.

There were a lot of cheers from the class, very few moaned about the sport. Daisuke was one of the few who moaned, physical activity wasn't his thing in the first place, football wasn't going to help that.

_What's wrong Daisuke? Should I take over for the next few weeks?_ Dark asked Daisuke as he moaned about the agony and torture that would come in the next few weeks.

_No, that's fine Dark. I'll manage…somehow._ Daisuke told Dark as calmly as he could.

Satoshi put his hand on Daisuke's shoulder, and Daisuke looked up. "It might help if you showed me where the practice field is. That's where Mr. Garcia said we're going to be for this unit."

Daisuke's face flushed bright red as he realized that he and Satoshi were the only two left in the gym area and that Matt was impatiently waiting for them at the exit.

"Come on." Satoshi said softly, sweetly.

Daisuke slowly stood up and raced Satoshi over to where Matt waited for the two.

Matt sighed in annoyance as the two Japanese boys finally caught up with him. "I'm not that fast of a runner, but right now I could beat you in a foot race."

_Is that a challenge?!_ Dark shouted. Of course, nobody but Daisuke could hear him but it was annoying nonetheless.

_Calm down Dark. It's just because he knows I'm shocked to see Satoshi here, that's all._ Daisuke said to Dark, calming him down.

Satoshi pulled on Daisuke's arm and followed Matt to the practice field. The entire walk to the practice field Daisuke was blushing furiously, not sure what to think about the situation. Daisuke's heart started to pound in his ears, his blood started flowing faster and faster – mostly to his face –, and he started breaking out in a cold sweat. After a minute or so, Daisuke was surprised that Dark hadn't made any smart remark about what was happening to him. This wasn't normal so Dark should've said something by now.

_Dark, you seem calm about this._ Daisuke told Dark, confused.

_I figured that you're just embarrassed about being in a daze about your friend being here._ Dark sighed. _Why? Is there something I should know?_

Daisuke blushed even harder. _Um…N-No!_

Dark chuckled a bit and left Daisuke alone.

Once Daisuke, Matt, and Satoshi reached the practice field, with a very angry gym teacher waiting for them, the class was split up into teams. Mr. Garcia put Satoshi and Daisuke on the same team because he had realized that the two knew each other.

The first practice game was Daisuke's team against Brad's team. Brad was a star J.V football player with a strong build, perfectly rounded face, and eyes that would make any girl or gay guy swoon. When Daisuke first saw Brad he did swoon, thinking that he might be able to get an American boy instead of waiting to go back to Japan for Satoshi…but after only a week Daisuke found Brad revolting. Daisuke had always been the butt of Brad's jokes because he was the new kid from Japan, so Daisuke's crush on Brad dissipated and now he hates Brad with a fiery passion.

As the teams lined up as Mr. Garcia instructed, Daisuke saw Brad give him a longing look. He didn't know what it meant, but decided to ignore it.

_I'm not gonna give in to that son-of-a-bitch now!_ Daisuke shouted in his head.

_What was __**that**__? That Brad kid likes you now???_ Dark was just as confused as Daisuke was. Dark had even harassed Brad a bit after a good theft at the museum of art.

Daisuke sighed. _I don't know…but I need to pay attention so I don't get killed._ As Daisuke said that to Dark, the assigned quarterback caught the ball as it was hiked to him and started running.

Daisuke did his best to do as he was told, but when the quarterback threw him the ball he was tackled. And surprised who he was tackled by, Brad!

After tackling Daisuke, Brad, whose blonde hair was just a bit past the school's allowed limit, looked into Daisuke's eyes for a moment. Daisuke could've read his mind if he had wanted to, but right now he just wanted to get up.

Satoshi pretty much pushed Brad off of Daisuke, he was clearly angry but nobody seemed to notice. "You need to get off after a few seconds!"

Brad stood up and walked back over to his team, who were all looking at him confusingly.

Satoshi held out his hand. "Let me help you up." Satoshi said as sweetly as he had earlier.

Daisuke took Satoshi's hand and got up. "Th-Thanks."

"That lumbering gorilla!" Satoshi said angrily. "He needs to play right!"

"Um, you've never even played this sport before." Daisuke said. "Brad's a star J.V football player here. He's going to get into the varsity no problem."

Satoshi, who had been glaring at the back of Brad's head, looked back over at Daisuke. "Daisuke…I want to talk to you after gym…ok?"

"Sure." Daisuke said confusingly.

Daisuke and Satoshi ran back to where their team was and made up the next play. Daisuke was a different position, as was Satoshi, so that he didn't have to do much work and didn't have to worry about getting killed by everyone else.

Mr. Garcia blew the whistle after ten minutes with Brad's team winning 7-0. "Ok, the last team needs to come up and play the winning team."

That meant Matt's team playing against Brad's team. Brad and Matt hated each other for just being born, so they were going to be tearing each other apart.

Satoshi, who seemed more tired than usual, laid his head on Daisuke's shoulder and started softly humming a song. Because Satoshi was humming softly Daisuke couldn't tell what the song was supposed to be.

Daisuke looked around to see if anybody was looking, but everyone was too engrossed in the game to notice them, and wrapped his arm around Satoshi's shoulders. Daisuke let the warmth, which he thought he would never feel, fill him. Satoshi didn't seemed bothered by it, in fact he seemed relaxed enough to close his eyes while humming. Daisuke would've closed his eyes, except for the fact that Mr. Garcia blew the whistle for everyone to go inside.

Daisuke and Satoshi moved away from each other immediately as soon as they heard the whistle. Both stood up quickly and waited on Matt to catch up to them before walking inside.

Matt was battered and bruised from his confrontation with Brad, but instead of moaning about the pain he was smiling about it. When Satoshi and Daisuke gave him weird looks, he pointed at Brad, who was bleeding from his arm.

Daisuke laughed about it, actually it was a laughing fit; he had never seen the star player so beat up in his life. Satoshi, as usual, kept his humor on the inside and just let Daisuke and Matt laugh about Brad's injuries.

Mr. Garcia showed Satoshi where his locker would be once in the locker room, it was next to Daisuke's so Satoshi wouldn't feel as weird about being new. Satoshi grabbed his clothes, which he had stuffed in his bag when he changed, and stood in front of his locker to change.

Daisuke's eyes shot to Satoshi as soon as Satoshi's shirt was off. It hadn't been the first time Daisuke had seen Satoshi shirtless, but it always took him by surprise. Satoshi had a lean figure with a few muscles; his skin was paler underneath his shirt than the parts that were exposed regularly. Not even bothering to put his other shirt on first, Satoshi dropped his shorts. He had on dark red boxers; the front was a little low so Daisuke could see the small V shape just above the band of Satoshi's underwear.

Daisuke blushed a little and got dressed as if he had seen nothing at all. As soon as Daisuke had his jacket back on, he looked over at Satoshi who was slipping on his shirt.

Matt walked over to the two and put his arms around their shoulders in a brotherly way. "I don't know you too well Satoshi, but if you're Daisuke's friend you're my friend."

Daisuke laughed. "Soon you'll be unofficially adopted brothers!"

Satoshi seemed uncomfortable with some guy he barely knew putting his arm around his shoulders like it was no big deal, but didn't say anything.

Matt pretty much dragged Satoshi and Daisuke out of the locker room and over to the main hall when the bell rang. But Matt went one way and Daisuke and Satoshi went another so they said goodbye and went to their respective classes.

Daisuke and Satoshi walked into the art room as the late bell rang and took their seats. The teacher wasn't there today so it was a movie day. The movie was something about Van Gough so Daisuke fell asleep while Satoshi was actually paying attention.

Forty-Five minutes later, Satoshi woke up Daisuke and pointed at his schedule, his next period was 4a lunch.

Daisuke stood up and nodded. "I have that lunch, so just follow me. Matt, Anna, and Sammy also have that lunch so you get to sit with us all." Daisuke said as he grabbed his backpack and walked out the art room door.

Satoshi nodded and followed Daisuke to the lunchroom. They set their stuff down at a round table and walked to the line to get their lunch. Daisuke got a mini pizza that was from Little Caesar's, a red slushy, and a cookie. Satoshi got pretty much the same thing, minus the cookie.

When Satoshi and Daisuke got back to the table, Sammy was sitting there eating her packed lunch and Matt and Anna's stuff was sitting there.

"Who's this?" Sammy asked after swallowing part of a sandwich.

Daisuke sat down next to Satoshi and said, "Satoshi Hikari, I used to go to school with him back in Japan."

Sammy's mouth opened wide, along with her eyes, in shock. "No way! That's not possible!!"

Daisuke shrugged. "It is."

Just then Anna and Matt walked up and sat down with their lunches. Matt told Daisuke that he had told Anna about Satoshi being here and where he was from. Anna was yapping her head off to Satoshi, who was for the most part ignoring her.

"So, Daisuke, how long have y'all known each other?" Sammy asked Daisuke, smiling.

"Um… Since we entered middle school." Daisuke said after thinking about it for a minute.

"Aw!"

"What?"

"Y'all would make such a **cute** couple!"

Daisuke blushed and started shoving food into his mouth.

After Satoshi finished his slushy, and Daisuke finished the last of his lunch, he pulled Daisuke away from the table and to the outside eating area. Kids outside were either asleep and/or high so it was the perfect place to just talk when you wanted nobody else to hear you.

Satoshi and Daisuke leaned against the railing that separated the student parking lot from the eating area. Satoshi put his head on Daisuke's shoulder and started humming again.

"I'm wondering…what's that song?" Daisuke asked shyly.

"'Taking Over Me' by Evanescence." Satoshi said softly. "They're quite popular in Japan now."

"Oh! I know that song." Daisuke said.

Satoshi smiled and started humming again as Daisuke softly sang the entire song with him.

"You don't remember me

_But I remember you_

_I lie awake and try so hard_

_Not to think of you_

_But who can decide what they dream?_

_And dream I do…_

_I believe in you_

_I'll give up everything just to find you_

_I have to be with you to live to breathe_

_You're taking over me_

_Have you forgotten all I know_

_And all we had?_

_You saw me mourning my love for you_

And touched my hand I knew you loved me then

(Satoshi grabbed Daisuke's hand and held onto it, he held Daisuke's hand softly and continued to hum.)

_I believe in you_

_I'll give up everything just to find you_

_I have to be with you to live to breathe_

_You're taking over me_

_I look in the mirror and see your face_

_If I look deep enough_

_So many things inside that are_

_Just like you are taking over_

_I believe in you_

_I'll give up everything just to find you_

_I have to be with you to live to breathe_

_You're taking over me_

_(Taking over me…)"_

Satoshi lifted his head and looked Daisuke in the eye with a compassionate look. One that Satoshi had never given anyone before. "Daisuke…"

Daisuke looked back at Satoshi with the same look that Satoshi was giving him. "Satoshi…" Daisuke gripped onto Satoshi's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze when he realized that Satoshi was having a hard time speaking. "Take your time."

It took Satoshi a minute to know exactly what he was going to say but he finally did. "When you left Azumano Middle School…no, when you left Japan I thought my world was falling apart. I could hardly do much of anything without being reminded of you." Daisuke nodded, understanding what he was talking about. "I didn't know what it meant at first, but the more it happened the more I realized that…" Satoshi stopped, unable to continue.

"Satoshi…what is it?" Daisuke asked, the butterflies were gathering in his stomach as if he already knew what was coming.

"I…" Satoshi paused, gathering his strength. "I love you!"


	3. A Warning of Two Unexpected Events

_Thanks to my reviewers - firefly734, SwiftFeather, BleedingLover, arisa kojite, and __Rauwrtsch__ - for being patient with me. Sorry this took so long to get out._

…

Daisuke froze. He couldn't believe it, Satoshi really did feel the same way about him…and that was just too much for his brain to process right now. He could feel all his blood rushing to his face in a deep blush.

"D-Daisuke?" Satoshi looked at Daisuke hopefully, but he was clearly scared; the look on his face said it.

Daisuke tried to smile, but was in too much shock to even move whatsoever. Off to his left, Daisuke heard someone's Ipod – all the way up – start playing Flyleaf's new song "All Around Me". He took a breath, trying to find the words to tell Satoshi without fear of Dark coming out.

_Daisuke, what the hell's wrong with you?!_ Dark yelled inside Daisuke's head. _Just let the poor sap down and go back to your friends._

Daisuke ignored Dark and finally found his voice. "Satoshi… Thank you." He smiled as one tear fell down his face.

Satoshi was confused, but still scared. "I don't…understand."

Daisuke pulled the other boy into a tight embrace. "I feel the same way. I have for a long time…" He bit his bottom lip. "I love you too."

Satoshi rested his head on Daisuke's shoulder and wrapped his arms around the other boy's waist. "Oh…Daisuke… Please…if this is a lie—"

"It's not." Daisuke pulled far enough away from Satoshi to look him in eye. "I really love you."

Satoshi buried his head into Daisuke's shoulder and began to cry a little. Daisuke just stood there, holding his beloved comfortingly. Both boys were enjoying the sense of warmth, comfort, and love that they were receiving from the other. Only after a minute – which, unfortunately only felt like a few seconds for them – Anna walked outside to find Daisuke and Satoshi, she stopped when she saw them.

"D-D-Daisuke?!" Anna stared at them for a few minutes, shocked. Her mouth was hanging so low that it probably could've touched the ground.

Daisuke and Satoshi looked over at the shocked/pissed/sad girl confusingly. Neither had expected her to come outside looking for them, nor were they expecting what was coming next…

Anna grabbed Daisuke's arm and pulled him away from Satoshi. "Stay away from him, you son-of-a-bitch! He's not like you! He's **mine**! Do you hear me?! **MINE**!!"

Daisuke pulled his arm away from Anna. "'Yours'? When did I become 'yours'?"

"Since I shared the feelings of my heart with you last week!" Anna grabbed Daisuke's wrist and squished it between her breasts.

Daisuke made a face and quickly pulled his hand away before standing by Satoshi again. "We played spin-the-bottle at a kegger. That doesn't count."

"Yes, it does!" Anna argued, tears were beginning to fall down her face by this point. "I love you, you shouldn't be with another man! Good men don't belong with other men!!"

Daisuke growled and grabbed Satoshi's hand, leading him back towards the door. "Believe whatever the hell you want, Anna! You can't stop love, and that's what Satoshi and I have…just get used to it!"

Anna fell down to her knees and began to sob as Daisuke and Satoshi walked back inside the cafeteria, and over to the table near the door. They sat down, earning a couple of weird looks from Matt and Sammy.

Matt and Sammy exchanged a glance before Matt said, "I'm guessing that you're…gay then…Daisuke…?"

Daisuke nodded; there was no point in denying it. Besides, considering the position of the table with the glass doors leading outside, they probably saw anyway.

Sammy's face scrunched together in some screwed up cutesy smile. "Aw…! I knew y'all would get together, you're just too cute!!"

Satoshi, who wasn't used to the random bouts of "cute bursts" from Sammy, cringed towards Daisuke in fear.

Matt laughed a little bit. "I more or less knew it. But, I think – until now – some part of me refused to accept it. Now that it's out in the open, I can't deny that my best friend is gay." He shrugged.

Sammy nodded happily. "Yeah, I agree!" She looked towards the outside, where Anna was still on the ground crying. "That means you shot her down."

Daisuke nodded, knowing that she was referring to Anna.

Sammy stood up. "Guess it's time for a little reconnaissance." She walked outside and sat down beside her friend.

Matt shook his head. "Well, looks like Sammy's making her move."

Daisuke leaned forward, resting his chin in his hand. "It's about time. She's had a mad crush on Anna since I got here."

"Since before then, actually." Matt corrected.

As Matt and Daisuke talked about Sammy and Anna, and Satoshi fell asleep on Daisuke's arm, Dark tried talking to Daisuke – actually, lecture would be the appropriate word.

_Daisuke, listen to me! You can't like Satoshi this way! It's morally wrong! Why don't you go to get that Anna girl? She was hot!_ Dark yelled in Daisuke's head, trying to get his attention. _Daisuke?! Are you listening?!_

_I'm trying not to._ Daisuke replied calmly as Satoshi snuggled closer. _I don't really care what you think, Dark. As long as I have Satoshi, nothing else matters._

Dark growled. _You __**can't**__ have these feelings Daisuke! Not only is it morally wrong, but also since we're no longer in Japan, neither of you can seal Krad and me away! You have to continue the Niwa bloodline!_

_Just shut up, Dark! I know what I'm doing!_

_You're too young to know what you want! How can you do this?! You know that you have to fulfill your duties to your family, to being a Phantom Thief, before carelessly giving your heart away!_

_GO AWAY, DARK!!!_

With that, Dark shut his mouth. And, surprisingly enough, he kept it shut the rest of the day. Daisuke, though, was unable to concentrate in the classes he didn't have with Satoshi because his mind was stuck on the other boy.

Once the final bell rang, calling the end of the day, Daisuke ran from his class – World Geography – and to Satoshi's final class – Algebra 1 (AKA: Pre-Algebra, in most other schools) – as fast as he could. Luckily, he reached the class – just down the same hall – before Satoshi could leave.

Satoshi smiled as he walked out of the class and Daisuke walked up to him. "Hello, Daisuke."

Daisuke smiled at Satoshi and walked with the other boy, talking with him as they walked out of the hall, where Matt was waiting for them.

"Hey." Matt sighed.

Daisuke knew that exasperated "hey" meant only one thing… "You have marching band practice today, don't you…?"

Matt sighed, "Yep. And it's one-hundred and five fucking degrees!"

Daisuke snickered a little, and Satoshi even allowed a small smile at that one. It was always funny to have a laugh at the band's expense, especially in this weather. (No offense whatsoever to any band members because I'm a flute player. But people do always tend to get a laugh from that.)

Matt sighed. "Yeah, just came to remind you both about the party tomorrow." He winked at them. "Who knows, y'all might have sex…" He laughed as he dodged a backpack – Daisuke's – flying towards his head and ran towards the band hall, on the other end of the building.

Daisuke sighed and picked up his backpack. "That pervert!"

Satoshi chuckled a little and walked beside Daisuke. "Come on, let's go home."

Daisuke nodded once. "Yeah."

Daisuke and Satoshi walked out of the door to the student parking lot and turned towards the direction the Middle School was in – which wasn't even a block away. The Middle School was on the main road going through Hewitt, so there were a lot of fast food and sit-down restaurants on the road. It really sucked to outside for gym – at both the High School and the Middle School – because one could smell all of the restaurants on that road.

Daisuke led Satoshi over to the nearest restaurant, a small fried chicken place called _Bush's Chicken_. (Yummy!) Once inside, Satoshi sat down at a booth as Daisuke ordered them a box of chicken tenders with gravy and two large cups of the sweet tea – the sweet tea is like sugar with tea added, it's amazingly sweet. A few minutes later, Daisuke walked back over to Satoshi and sat down across from him.

Daisuke grabbed a chicken tender from the box and dipped it into the gravy. As he was eating, he noticed Satoshi giving the food a funny look. "What's wrong, Sato?" (A/N: From here on, I think Daisuke will call Satoshi "Sato", but I'm not sure.)

"What is this?" Satoshi asked, not entirely sure if it was edible.

Daisuke laughed a little. "Fried chicken tenders with gravy. Come on, eat it."

Satoshi took a drink of the tea and started coughing; he hadn't been expecting the sugar rush from one sip of the tea. He wanted the sugary taste out of his mouth fast, so Satoshi ate a piece of chicken and gravy.

"So?" Daisuke asked, hoping for a good reaction.

"This is really good." Satoshi said in a surprised voice. Apparently he hadn't expected it to taste as well as it did.

Daisuke smiled. The two continued eating, Satoshi was catching Daisuke up on everything he had missed since moving and Daisuke listened intently. Before they knew it, all the chicken, and both teas were gone. They threw the trash away and walked across the street, to the apartment complex where Satoshi now lived.

Daisuke and Satoshi stopped just outside of Satoshi's apartment. Daisuke stared at Satoshi, reluctant to go home; he wanted to stay with Satoshi a little longer. Satoshi saw that longing in Daisuke's eyes and pecked him on the cheek.

Daisuke blushed and smiled. "Well, um… Hehe… I guess this means we're…dating?"

"It does." Satoshi smiled and turned to open the door. As he did, he felt something stabbing his heart and he fell down. "No…"

Daisuke knelt beside Satoshi. "Sato?! Are you okay?"

"I thought I had…suppressed him…"

Realization passed over Daisuke. "K-Krad?"

Satoshi nodded. "Dammit!"

"Sato!" Daisuke tried putting an arm around his boyfriend, but was pushed away. "What's wrong?"

"You remember him, I know you do! You have to stay back, or he'll… Ah!" Satoshi slowly stood up, his face twisted with pain.

Daisuke stood up and tried helping Satoshi, but was pushed away again. "Let me help you!"

"Go home, Daisuke!" Satoshi opened the door and walked inside his apartment. "I don't want Krad to hurt you too." He slammed the door.

Daisuke hung his head. _That's a great way to start a relationship…_

_So, Krad's returning…? Daisuke, you know what this means._ Dark said almost victoriously.

_I'm not listening to you. We can last through this; you and Krad will disappear eventually!_

_Don't you find it strange, though, that I haven't disappeared yet? After all, both of you share feelings._

_And?_ Daisuke challenged as he walked towards his home.

Dark snickered. _One of you is afraid of these feelings, and I can tell it's not you._

_Shut up! Satoshi's only afraid of Krad!_

Dark sighed. _Remember that tonight we're stealing something from the college museum. You have to transform into me, as much as you don't want to._

Daisuke sighed. _Fine… I just don't understand why this has to happen now._

_Krad stayed suppressed because Satoshi closed off his heart. With it open again, with his heart given to you, Krad is free. We might encounter him tonight…I hope you're prepared to face him again._

Daisuke hung his head as he opened the door to his house. _I am._


	4. The Ballad of the Night

**Woot, the PlotBunny finally visited me for this story! Thank you for being so patient! Enjoy!**

…

"_Don't say a word, I know you feel the same/Just give me a sign/Say anything, say anything/Please don't walk away, I know you wanna stay/Just give me a sign/Say anything, say anything"_

~"Say Anything" – Good Charlotte

…

It was midnight when Dark landed on top of the dome roof of the Mayborn Museum, his wings folded up against his back when he landed. He looked down when he heard two college students walking by, making sure they didn't see him. They didn't, though he could clearly see them – they were wearing bright yellow Baylor University shirts, so of course they would be seen.

Daisuke sighed inside Dark's head. _"Man, I really wanted to go to that party tomorrow too."_

Dark chuckled softly and snuck into the museum through a nearby window once the students passed. "You know you'd be too exhausted to go."

"_Yeah, yeah, I know."_

Dark walked casually through the museum, seeing as it was on the campus of a widely known and respected college, there were few security cameras – the caretaker didn't think anyone was stupid enough to break in. He jumped onto the railing of a balcony that overlooked the main entrance and checked for cameras before jumping down to the first floor. Dark turned around and saw a set of double doors, he tried opening them but found them locked.

Dark sighed, "This place has barely **any** security and the room I need into is locked. What kind of BS is that?" Daisuke merely sighed.

Though he complained, Dark didn't have any trouble whatsoever getting into the room. Once in the room, he once again checked for cameras – there were none – before walking over to the glass case in the middle of the room. He stopped in front of it and looked around at the other displays; all were ancient instruments, the newest one in the room was a dark blue ceramic ocarina.

Dark looked back at the case in front of him for a moment before pulling out a slip of paper from his back pocket. _This is it?_

"_What's wrong, Dark? Not what you were anticipating?"_

_No, not at all._

Daisuke sighed, _"Mom said that she had no idea what it was this time, just that it was important to get before the opening of this exhibit tomorrow."_

"Right." Dark put the paper back into his pocket and lifted the glass off of the rest of the display; it had been unlocked for the performance during the exhibit. He grabbed the sheet music and stared at its intricately designed letters, tracing them with his fingers. "Got it…'The Ballad of the Night'."

"_Dark, I see why we had to get this!"_ Daisuke said suddenly.

"Why?"

"_Look at the composer's name!"_

Dark looked at the name and smirked. "Miyabe Hikari. Yeah, I see it now."

There was suddenly a low voice laughing behind them. "Dark, you make this almost too easy."

Dark turned around in time to get punched in the chest by the pale, blonde hair, gold eyed fallen angel that Satoshi was afraid of. He hit the far wall, smashing the case with the wooden Japanese flute. (A/N: If I screw up anything during the fight scene, please tell me so I can fix it.)

Once he recovered from the initial shock of being taken for surprise, Dark glared up at the fallen angel who was floating above him with pure white wings. "Krad! You son-of-a-bitch, you should've locked away!"

Krad simply laughed again as he toyed with the sheet music he managed to take from Dark. "Now, now, is that anyway to speak to me? After all the nice times we've had together, I thought—"

"You thought what?! That I'd actually just let you get away with hurting others…?!"

Daisuke finally recovered from hitting the wall and said, _"Dark, he got the—"_

_I know, Daisuke, I know._ Dark looked around, but couldn't find anything that wasn't too fragile to use as a weapon. _Dammit!_

Krad saw the look of frustration on Dark's face and laughed again. "What's wrong, Dark? Don't you like the friendly competition again?"

"Friendly? This isn't friendly!"

"How do you figure?"

Dark pushed himself off of the wall with his legs and launched himself at Krad. He plucked a feather off of his wings and plunged it into the enemy fallen angel's stomach. Krad stared blankly at the opposite wall and gasped for breath.

Dark smirked and straightened up as he grabbed the front of Krad's shirt. "You're still weak. If you didn't want to put yourself and your host in danger, you should've waited a few days to gather your strength."

"I could care less about my host, it's just that I needed to confirm something Dark." Krad coughed, blood stained the sides of his mouth.

"What was that?"

Krad smirked and kicked Dark away. He dropped the sheet music, his wings folded around him. "Nothing you need to know. Bye." He disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

Dark picked up the sheet music and looked around the room. Aside from the smashed case on the other side of the room, it wasn't so bad.

"_Dark, we have to go. Now!"_ Daisuke said quickly.

"How come?" Dark asked as he walked out of the room.

_"I just remembered something from the tour…"_

"What?" Dark tried to remember something important from the tour a week ago through the museum, but couldn't.

_"This place has silent alarms!!!"_

"Shit."

About the time Dark said that, police sirens could be heard driving toward the museum fast. He jumped up and flew out the window he came in, making sure not to be seen by the approaching officers. Soon enough, he was across Waco and back into Hewitt. He found his way back to the house and walked right in.

"Dark?" Emiko ran over to Dark as his wings turned back into Wiz. "Did you get it?"

Dark handed her _The Ballad of the Night_. "Of course." He turned back into Daisuke.

"Daisuke!!" An old man shouted as he ran into the entryway. His gray hair was spiky exactly like Daisuke's; his moustache was the exact same color. He still wore the same gaudy blue robe like when they lived in Japan.

"Yeah, Grandpa?"

"The news, **the news**!!!"

Daisuke was confused, but walked into the living room anyway. He stopped when he saw that on the TV there was a news crew in front of the Mayborn Museum reporting about the break-in.

"_According to authorities, it seems like there was a little struggle inside the museum. The result of that struggle was the destruction of the Japanese flute that was to be part of the opening ceremony for the exhibit. And it seems that until the music that was stolen can be recovered, the exhibit will not open. I repeat…"_

Daisuke could feel the glares of his mother and grandfather on the back of his head. "Uh…I can explain…?"

"Please, Daisuke, do." Emiko said slightly angrily.

Daisuke took a deep breath and turned around. "Krad interfered. We were about to leave and Krad showed up, that's why the instrument was destroyed."

"But why did the cops show up?" Grandpa Niwa asked, tapping his toe. "Even if he did interfere, the cops shouldn't have come." (A/N: I don't know his name, can someone tell me…?)

Daisuke took another breath. "There was a silent alarm Dark and I forgot about."

Emiko sighed and hung her head. Grandpa Niwa turned around and started ranting about the "clumsy phantom thief".

"Daisuke, we **were** trying to keep a low profile as far as Dark is concerned."

"_It seems that the authorities have also confirmed that this is the same person, or people that have been stealing minor artifacts from this museum and other parts of the University for the past few months. No DNA is left at the crime scene, though fingerprints are there."_

Emiko groaned. "And now it seems like the cops have some viable reason to up security at the University. Dark, you need to be more careful!"

"_Why's it __**my**__ fault?"_ Dark yelled inside Daisuke's head. Daisuke repeated the message.

"You're the 'phantom thief', Dark, you should be more careful when it comes to keeping your identity a secret! Daisuke could get in trouble for this too!"

_"But that's no fun! There's no competition in it!"_

Daisuke sighed and said, "Dark said that he understands. He'll try harder to conceal his existence next time."

"Okay, that's good." Emiko shook her head and looked at the artwork/sheet music. "At least you got the music. I'll go lock this up." She turned towards an unused guest room and walked inside.

Daisuke turned and walked upstairs and into the bathroom next to his bedroom. He filled the bathtub with water as hot as he could bear it and sat down in it after stripping off his clothes. He leaned back against the side of the ceramic tub and stared at the ceiling.

_Dark, did you hurt Sato when you injured Krad?_ Daisuke was truly concerned. He didn't want Satoshi to be his worst enemy again.

"_It's highly probable that I did."_ Dark sighed; he didn't understand the "pet name" Daisuke gave Satoshi.

_Oh…_

_"Daisuke, I'll you this now. Forget Satoshi for the time being. You both have to wait until we're back in Japan and myself and Krad sealed up before even **thinking** about romance with each other."_

_But, Dark, you know how it feels… How it feels to be completely attracted to someone, completely in love in someone but you can't be with them. Dark, you know that all too well, don't you…?_

For a long time Dark couldn't say anything, he didn't know what to say because Daisuke was right. Finally, he said, _"Yes, I know how it feels. God, Daisuke, you have no idea how well I know. It was many, many years ago when it happened, but I still remember it."_

_Okay, you know how it feels. So, why are you so insistent on me feeling the same pain you felt?_

"_I'm not insistent, but Krad is my enemy. If I kill him, Satoshi will die with him. I don't want you to feel even worse when, and if he dies!"_

Daisuke sighed softly and got out of the bath. He drained the water and grabbed a towel. He wrapped it around his waist and walked to his room. Daisuke grabbed some nightclothes and climbed into bed, trying to block out what Dark had said.

…

Monday morning…

Daisuke walked up to the High School wearing a baggy black Evanescence t-shirt and black cargo shorts. He was nervous as hell, and he had right to be too. He had no idea if Satoshi had been as badly hurt as Krad had been.

He walked up to his friends – minus Anna, who was still having a breakdown according to Sammy – and looked around for Satoshi.

"Looking for Satoshi?" Matt asked nonchalantly. He wore a tight white t-shirt and tan cargo shorts.

"Y-Yeah."

"Hmm…" Sammy brushed her hair back over her shoulder as the wind blew it in front of her face. Her hair was down today, she wore a baggy red t-shirt from an amusement park in Missouri that said _Fire in the Hole_ across it and tight dark blue jeans. "I saw him over the weekend. He was walking out of the hospital near Woodway."

"T-The hospital?!" Daisuke became frantic. Satoshi had been hurt after all, and it scared him.

"Yeah. I pulled over and asked him what he was doing there. I guess he had a little car accident, but he said it was nothing serious." Sammy ran her hands through her hair. "Satoshi should be here today."

Daisuke tried to slow his heartbeat. He was still scared, but hearing Sammy saying that Satoshi wasn't too concerned about it helped a little.

"Daisuke, you seem a bit tense." Satoshi said as he stopped beside his boyfriend.

Daisuke jumped almost two feet into the air. "S-Sato…!" He hugged Satoshi close to him.

Satoshi looked over at Sammy. "You told him, didn't you…?"

Sammy smiled innocently. "Maybe…"

Satoshi sighed. "Daisuke, I'm fine."

Daisuke held Satoshi out in front of him arm-length and looked him up and down. Satoshi wore a white collared shirt and blue jean pants. Though Daisuke made a mental note of this, he saw nothing wrong with his boyfriend to make him concerned. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Don't scare me like that!" Daisuke said, holding his right hand to his heart.

Satoshi smiled a bit and grabbed Daisuke's wrist. "Can you walk me to my first class, I don't know where it is…?"

Daisuke smiled and blushed a little. "Of course." He looked at Sammy and Matt. "See you guys later." He followed Satoshi into the building.

Satoshi turned to the right and into the hall leading to the Army ROTC room. He stopped and made sure no one was walking by or listening before facing Daisuke. "Listen, Daisuke, I thought about a few things over the weekend."

Daisuke tilted his head to the side. "What?"

"After Krad and Dark's fight in the museum, everything I was afraid of happened. Krad had been injured pretty badly because he was so weak after me suppressing him for as long as I did." Satoshi let go of Daisuke's wrist and backed away a few steps. "We can't do this now. We can't continue to date!"

…

**Me: Whahaha! Cliffhangers are the best!**

**PlotBunny: Yeah… Well, I'm outta here.**

**Me: Wait, what?!**

**PlotBunny: Chibisansempei needs me, she hasn't got anything for her story…again.**

**Me: But, but, but, I need you for this story!!**

**PlotBunny: I'll come back when you get some reviews. {leaves}**

**Me: Ack! P-Please review so the PlotBunny will come back! And everyone who reviews gets a cookie!**


	5. A Warning of a Fear and a Confession

**The PlotBunny has returned in all of its awesomeness!**

**PlotBunny: Is awesomeness even a word?**

**Me: Yes it is! Spell-check didn't say it wasn't, so it must be!**

**PlotBunny: Or you added it to the dictionary…**

**Me: …**

**Plotbunny: Ha!**

**Me: Grr! Just do your job, PB!**

**PlotBunny: PB?**

**Me: Yes!**

**PlotBunny: Ugh… By the way, Suki-San doesn't own DN Angel, and she never will.**

**Me: Though I'd really like to!**

…

Satoshi let go of Daisuke's wrist and backed away a few steps. "We can't do this now. We can't continue to date!"

Daisuke stopped breathing, his heart was thumping against his rib cage. "S-Sato?"

"I love you…so much…but with Krad, love means nothing. He's going to try to sever the bond between us by destroying you if we continue to see each other."

"But, Sato, we haven't even been—"

"Don't call me that!" Satoshi shouted as he hung his head to hide his tears. "I'm sorry, I really don't want to do this…but I don't want you to die even more."

Daisuke couldn't say a single word for a few moments; he had no idea **what** to say. His moment of happiness that he just got was attempting to slip away. "You're strong enough to disallow him to do that, I know you are. And I'll be damned if I allow you to suffer just because of what you're afraid of. We can get through this."

Satoshi shook his head, tears flying in every direction. "No, we can't!"

"Satoshi…" Daisuke reached out to put a reassuring hand on Satoshi's shoulder, but his hand was swatted away.

"Just leave me alone!" Satoshi tried to run past Daisuke, but his arm was caught by the other boy.

"You don't want to leave me, I can tell. You wouldn't be crying if you absolutely wanted to." Daisuke allowed tears of his own to roll down his face. "Satoshi, I **know** we can get through this." He faced Satoshi towards him and lifted up his face to his own. "Krad can't stop us, he can't stop **you**."

"Daisuke, he'll kill—"

Daisuke shook his head. "Dark won't allow Krad to kill me, and neither will you. If it comes to that, I know you'll protect me. And I won't allow Dark to be so reckless from now on."

Satoshi buried his head into Daisuke's chest. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Daisuke wrapped his arms around the slender boy and rested his face in Satoshi's hair. "You don't need to apologize. I understand why you thought it was the only way."

Satoshi lifted his face up to look at Daisuke and kissed him softly and quickly on the lips. "I'll never think it again, I promise."

Daisuke smiled softly and nuzzled the top of his boyfriend's head.

"Eew, faggots!" Some short girl yelled as she turned into the hall.

Daisuke looked at her and all but growled. "Shut the fuck up!"

"Why should I?!" The girl stomped towards them. Daisuke recognized her from the group FCS (Fellowship of Christian Students) that meets once a week at the school in the morning.

_They must've just let out. Great! We don't need this right now… _Daisuke thought.

"_I'll take care of the bitch, Daisuke."_ Dark offered.

_No, that's fine. I'll figure out something._

"Okay…"

The girl started pulling a bible out of her bag, when Matt walked down the hall and bopped her on the back of the head with his fist. "What's your problem?"

She glared at him. "What's **your **problem?! You with the faggots?!"

Sammy skipped down the hall after Matt, grabbing the bible from the girl's hand and hitting her upside the head with it. "The accepted vernacular is **gay**!"

The girl held her head where it was throbbing and picked up the bible that Sammy had thrown behind her before running off.

Matt and Sammy walked over to Daisuke and Satoshi. Both wanted to know what transpired, but neither asked. They knew when they were needed – just like a moment ago – and when they're not – now.

After a moment more, Satoshi lifted his head from Daisuke's shirt and smiled at everyone. "Thank you, so much."

Matt smiled back. "It's not a problem! Friends stick together 'til the end, right…?"

Daisuke nodded once along with Satoshi.

Sammy smiled wider than she had before. "It's no problem! Those FCS bastards have been bothering me for years, and I hate it. I would never wish anyone else, especially y'all, to have to deal with it."

"Some of them were okay in the past," Matt said, "but now they're all about bashing anyone who doesn't believe what they believe. And, as you just experienced, they love to bash gays."

"Yeah, they came up to me one time and started yelling in my face about 'eternal damnation', or something of that sort." She shrugged. "Well, that's water under the bridge for me. How are y'all after that run-in?"

"I-I'm fine." Daisuke stuttered out. He looked over at Satoshi. "Sato, what about you?"

He chuckled nervously. "A little shaken, but that's it."

Matt nodded once. "Good. Don't let them get to you."

Sammy nodded once too. "Exactly. So, Satoshi, what's your first class?"

Satoshi pulled his schedule out of his pocket and said, "Um… U.S History."

She smiled as wide as she did a moment ago. "Awesome! So do I?" She took his schedule. "What teacher?! Oh, cool, I have the same class as you do!" She then glomped him, happy that they had the same class.

Satoshi struggled to stay on his feet, seeing as Daisuke and Matt – both laughing their asses off at Satoshi's little struggle – were useless. About three minutes later, giving them two minutes to run across the building and to their first period class.

Daisuke and Matt literally dove inside Mrs. Thornton's door at the last possible second. She looked at them funny and told them to sit down as they continued watching _Romeo & Juliet_. They were at the part where Juliet stabbed herself upon seeing her lover's dead body. That had to be the only part of the movie the two paid any attention to. They always have enjoyed the violent stuff – even if it is kind of cheesy. (And that movie **screams** cheesy.)

After the long forty-five minutes were up, Matt and Daisuke practically raced to the door and halfway through the building to meet up with Sammy and Satoshi. They were hiding behind the first main stairwell, listening to her Ipod. As soon as the two boys walked up to the two, they knew what they were listening to – "Oh My God" by Pink. (A/N: For those of you, who don't know that song, listen to it. It comes into play in a few chapters anyway.)

Daisuke sighed and hid his eyes in his eyes. "Sammy, what are you doing to him?"

"Introducing him to the arts!" Sammy exclaimed with a fist pump in the air. "He had no idea who Pink is, so I had to introduce him by having him listen to my favorite song of hers!"

Matt laughed. "Great job, Sammy!"

Daisuke shook his head. "He couldn't have listened to 'Sober' or 'Leave me Alone, I'm Lonely' or 'Save my Life' or 'Just Like a Pill' or even 'Family Portrait'?!" (Yup, that's right, she got him addicted to Pink.)

"Nope!" She giggled.

After less than a half a moment after they ended that little conversation-type-thing, Satoshi took out the headphone he had in and handed it back to Sammy. His face was beat red.

"T-Thanks for letting me listen to that, I-I guess…?" He stuttered out.

Sammy giggled again and put her Ipod in her oversized pocket. "Well, glad you're thanking me! We better get going, or y'all will be late again."

Matt, Satoshi, and Daisuke nodded and started walking towards the gym. Of course, the moment they began walking, the minute bell rang. The three exchanged a quick look and kicked it into overdrive, running all the way into the locker room.

"I won that one!" Matt said as he changed into his gym clothes.

"We were racing?" Satoshi asked, trying to catch his breath while slipping on his gym shirt.

"With Matt, if we're running, it's automatically a race." Daisuke sighed while hastily pulling on his gym clothes.

The three walked out to the gym floor and sat down right before Mr. Garcia walked out. The teacher sighed as he saw that Brad and Matt went right to glaring at each other, and made a mental note to make a new seating chart so that they're not next to each other. He should've learned that from when he accidentally put them on the same baseball team during that unit. That was pure hell.

"Okay, we're outside again. Team two against team three again as soon as we're out." (Matt and Brad's teams again.) He said, pushing all the boys out of the door.

The two teams got in their ready positions while Satoshi and Daisuke's team watched from the sidelines. The two boys not playing rooted for Matt's team as he and Brad tried killing each other again. They both heard Matt yell along the lines of, "Oh, so now want to **lose **your arm!"

Mr. Garcia chuckled nervously and mumbled, "That's right boys, take out your frustrations…"

After another three minutes, Brad's team won, sending Matt's team to the sidelines. Matt was covered with bruises and scratches, making him look like he'd just been in a street fight rather than playing football.

Satoshi and Daisuke stood up and joined their team on the field. After ten more minutes, Brad's team was declared the day's winner and the boys were all sent inside as rain began to fall.

As Daisuke and Satoshi were helping Matt bandage the worst of his scratches – and scolding him while doing it – Brad came up to Daisuke and pulled him aside.

Daisuke sighed and shook his head, making sure that they stayed within earshot and punching range of Matt and Satoshi. "What'd you want?!"

"Hey, I apologize for my ex-girlfriend this morning." Brad said with a chuckle. "I heard that she gave you and your friend from Japan a hard time, so I wanted to apologize on her behalf."

Daisuke raised one eyebrow in serious confusion. "Uh… Okay?"

"_The fuck?!"_ Dark screamed inside Daisuke's head. _"What's he got up his sleeve?!"_

_You sense it too then. This can't be legit; it's not like Brad._

"You don't believe me." Brad said, sighing as Daisuke nodded. "Just because I'm a jerk, doesn't mean that I don't have a nice side. Okay?"

Daisuke nodded once sharply. "Is that all?"

"Well…actually…there is one thing."

"What?"

"I'm surprised you didn't seem to notice when I said my **ex**-girlfriend."

"Because I really don't care."

"Ah! Well, most people are concerned when one of the star football players is single."

"Again, I don't care."

Brad sighed. "Anyway, I dumped Michelle for someone else."

"Once again, I **really** do—"

"That person is standing in front of me right now."


End file.
